1. Technical Field
Exemplary aspects of the present invention generally relate to an image forming apparatus, such as a copier, a facsimile machine, a printer, or a multifunction peripheral including a combination thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known an image forming apparatus using an indirect transfer method in which an image on a photoconductor is transferred onto a recording medium via an intermediate transfer member such as an intermediate transfer belt formed into an endless loop. In the image forming apparatus using the indirect transfer method, when a trailing edge of the recording medium exits a secondary transfer portion at which the image on the intermediate transfer member is transferred onto the recording medium sudden stress is applied to the intermediate transfer member, which results in changes in the traveling speed of the intermediate transfer member. Due to changes in the traveling speed of the intermediate transfer member, an image transfer failure, a so-called shock jitter, occurs at a primary transfer portion at which the image on the photoconductor is transferred onto the intermediate transfer member.